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View Poll Results: Our first vintage trailer should be:
Airstream Overlander 1 33.33%
Airstream Ambassador 1 33.33%
Avion 0 0%
Silver Streak 1 33.33%
Voters: 3. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 08-08-2012, 12:36 AM   #1
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Vintage Kin Owner
Santa Clarita , California
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 43
First timers in SoCal

Hi,

We've been tent trailering for several years now and are looking to move up to vintage trailer. I must say it is an overwhelming endeavor trying to find a trailer that's close by, will fit our family (we have three girls and a boy), and won't turn into a money pit. Ideally we would want to find one that's 26'-28', ready to use but may need some cosmetic upgrades. We are looking at Airstreams, Avions, and Silver Streaks. Feel free to give opinions on merits of each! We're looking forward to our official "We found her" post someday in the not too distant future.

Chris and Mirissa
Santa Clarita, CA
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Old 08-08-2012, 11:40 PM   #2
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1959 26' Overlander
Nowhere , Washington
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Hey guys, glad to see you are checking out this forum. There is a ton of helpful information here and a lot of people willing to share their knowledge and experience. I obviously lean heavily towards a 1958-1963 26' Overlander, but I'm sure an Avion or Silverstreak of a similar size and layout would work well for you. I'm keeping an eye out for something that might work for you.

Norm
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blog: Captain Wilson's Overlander
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Old 08-09-2012, 12:21 AM   #3
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Thanks, Norm. (It's Mirissa). It's nice to know there's so much help available on this site because I really feel like this is nothing I've ever done before. I'm sure we're going to be spending many hours reading past posts and coming up with some of our own. And hopefully not getting to overwhelmed in the process.

Btw, I'd love to know what your profile picture is. The frame of the captain?
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Old 08-09-2012, 12:42 PM   #4
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1959 26' Overlander
Nowhere , Washington
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Originally Posted by mrcjdunne View Post
Btw, I'd love to know what your profile picture is. The frame of the captain?
Yep, that's the frame after it had been repainted.
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Old 08-11-2012, 08:46 AM   #5
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1959 26' Overlander
Nowhere , Washington
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Can I change my vote? I'm beginning to think you should probably look for an Ambassador.
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Old 08-11-2012, 09:06 AM   #6
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1968 28' Ambassador
Cedaredge , Colorado
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We also have 3 girls and a boy. Twins are 2.5 boy 6 other girl 9. We have a 68 ambassador that I now love but have hated. I remodeled it when we got it and put bunks in for the first two kids. Then we had twins and I did a shell off restoration and put couches in that now turn into 2 bunk beds.

It's hard to find an AS that will sleep 6 people, without making modifications. But there are some out there. The only problem I have with the older ones is: they are only 7 ft wide. I would look for something that is 8 ft wide to give you more room.

Good luck with your search. We just got back from a 3 week trip out west and the kids had a blast. And so do the wife and I.
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Old 08-11-2012, 09:21 AM   #7
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1959 26' Overlander
Nowhere , Washington
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Quote:
Originally Posted by purman View Post
We also have 3 girls and a boy. Twins are 2.5 boy 6 other girl 9. We have a 68 ambassador that I now love but have hated. I remodeled it when we got it and put bunks in for the first two kids. Then we had twins and I did a shell off restoration and put couches in that now turn into 2 bunk beds.

It's hard to find an AS that will sleep 6 people, without making modifications. But there are some out there. The only problem I have with the older ones is: they are only 7 ft wide. I would look for something that is 8 ft wide to give you more room.

Good luck with your search. We just got back from a 3 week trip out west and the kids had a blast. And so do the wife and I.
Thanks for adding your experience to this thread Jason. Chris and Mirissa are good friends of ours and we are trying to help them find something that will work fo their family.
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Old 08-11-2012, 09:32 AM   #8
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1968 28' Ambassador
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This is what i did: Basically I pulled the twin mid beds out. Put in two couches that the backs fold up to form bunks. Then I place a fold up table in the middle to eat at or play games. It's a little hard to get round to the bathroom when up but we deal with it. I also took out the front couch and put a permanent bed in. Much better and the kids can play on it. Plus having two 6.5 foot long couches is great. Tons of room
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May you have at least one sunny day, and a soft chair to sit in..

2008 5.7 L V8 Sequoia
AIR # 31243
WBCCI # 6987
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Old 08-11-2012, 01:25 PM   #9
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Jason,

Thanks for the info. We too have 3 girls (6, 10, 11) and a boy (3). We are trying to zero in on which AS model to buy. We have been focussing on either an Overlander or Trade Wind mostly because we felt we wouldn't be as restricted in campsite choices with a 25' or 26' trailer. But on the advice of our friend Norm (our resident expert) we are also looking at the Ambassador. He doesn't think it's an issue and we could use the extra room of a 28 footer with our family

That's a good tip about width. Hadn't thought about that. We'll definitely put that on the list of things to consider.

We love the bunk bed conversion you did. That would be an addition we would definitely put in ours and your solution looks really nice.

Do you have any issues towing the Ambassador with your Tundra? Slow going up hills, etc. We have an 1/2 ton '06 Suburban 5.3L V8 with tow package and were curious if we needed to consider a 3/4 ton upgraded TV

Regards,

Chris
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Old 08-11-2012, 03:38 PM   #10
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Good luck with your search. We just got back from a 3 week trip out west and the kids had a blast. And so do the wife and I.
We have too much in common! (this is Mirissa, btw). We just took a three week from CA to Banff, Alberta; Sandpoint, ID; Washington (where we saw first hand what a fabulous trailer Norm has- and it sleeps 6!); Portland and Wolf Creek, Oregon (loved Wolf Creek).

We had a fabulous time, but dealing with setting up and taking down our tent trailer in the rain wore really thin. Seeing Norm's trailer was the straw that broke the camel's back.
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